


The Coffee Is (Not) A Lie

by Pameluke



Category: The West Wing
Genre: 5+1 Things, Coffee, During Canon, Episode: s01e01 Pilot, Episode: s07e16 Election Day Part I, F/M, Josh And Donna Through The Years, POV Donna, POV Female Character, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pameluke/pseuds/Pameluke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 (and a half) times Donna brought Josh coffee, and one time he brought her some.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Coffee Is (Not) A Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-read by the lovely Milena, as part of my not so secret plan to drag her into this fandom. As always I owe her cookies, wine and a lot of hugs. All remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> Warning for a lot of romantic fluff, and a lot of vagueness and hand waving of how American Politics actually work in one section. I apologize, but I'm not American, and a non-native speaker, and unfortunately wiki-research is all I had time for at this point.
> 
> In two sections I use some dialogue from the actual show, from the Pilot episode and from Election Day (Part I).

From the day Donna starts working for Josh, they have a silent agreement that bringing Josh coffee is not one of her duties. To be fair, those first weeks Josh isn’t actually aware they have an agreement, but he learns quickly enough.

“DONNA!” Josh yells in his already familiar tone. When she hurries to his temporary make-do office, he’s frantically looking for something on his desk, while waving some files in her direction. “These need to be filed, I need a meeting with senator Williams sometime this afternoon, and get me some coffee will you?” He continues mumbling to himself, “Dammit, where did I leave the list of local Democratic Party Members?”

Donna hums noncommittally and goes to arrange the meeting and find Josh his file.

When she returns he’s rubbing his temples, and he smiles in gratitude when she hands him the folders he was looking for.

“Senator Williams can meet you at 3 pm,” she says. “Was there anything else?”

“Where’s my coffee?”

“Am I wearing a Starbucks uniform?”

Josh looks up and arcs his eyebrow. “Huh?”

She just smiles sweetly, and points at one of the folders in his hands. “Check the yellow folder.”

Josh looks puzzled but complies, and the longer he reads, the higher his eyebrows go up.

“Joshua Lyman’s Assistant Job Agreement,” he quotes. “3.A., Joshua Lyman’s Assistant is only required to bring coffee upon request if at the time he or she is wearing a Starbucks uniform.”

“Yes,” she says.

“I signed this?” he asks.

“On the second day I worked for you.”

“You have a frightening amount of power,” he says slightly in awe.

“Lucky for you, I’m a benevolent ruler,” she says.

“No exceptions?” he asks. “I can ask nicely.”

“I’m afraid not, feel free to bring me coffee if you want to though. Oh, and don’t forget 8.B. I particularly like point 8.B.”

“I’m supposed to give you a Christmas present? I’m Jewish!” he shouts after her as she’s leaving his office.

“Well, I’m not! You’ve got a 10 month advance notice, give me something nice!”

 

He never asks her to bring him coffee again. He doesn’t bring her coffee either, so that part of her plan never kicks off. Half of the time she ends up drinking from his mug however, and after a while he just uses a bigger one. All in all, they’ve got a good deal going.

 

*** 

 

Donna is at home doing laundry when she sees Josh explode on television. It’s not that she hasn’t seen him lose his cool before - he does that on an almost daily basis, it’s Josh 101 at this point. But it’s the first time she sees him lose his cool this spectacularly, on television, antagonizing the people he’s supposed to woo into submission, and probably insulting half of the country.

Tomorrow will not be a good day.

She lies awake that night, wondering if he’ll be fired, if he’ll still have a job in politics, if _she_ ’ll still have a job tomorrow. She has no idea what to do, if there is anything there is she can do, and she dreads the arrival of morning.

Since she can’t sleep, she arrives at the White House early, and everybody seems to be whispering around her. It’s obvious that everybody knows what happened and she feels eyes on her back everywhere. She figures he’s hiding in his office, so she decides to wait him out for a bit. Five minutes later the whole West Wing is buzzing with the rumor that the President was in a biking accident. Donna feels bad about it, but she kind of hopes the situation will distract people from the whole Josh mess.

Josh seems okay after the Senior Staff meeting, but then she hears a recorded version of the interview playing over and over again, muted but recognizable through the closed door. “Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud” is a pretty recognizable sound bite after all, especially on repeat. Clearly drastic measures are needed here.

So Donna reverts back to what her mother does when she needs comfort, which is bring heaps of food and hot drinks. Unfortunately she’s out of cookies, but the coffee is fresh, so she prepares him some.

 

When she enters his office, Josh looks devastated, and she doesn’t know how to help, so she says the first thing that comes to mind. “You shouldn't have worn that tie on television. It bleeds.”

“I don't think it was the tie that got me in trouble.”

“No, but I've told you a zillion times.” And it’s true, she has, and for a moment she hopes she’ll be able to distract him with a useless argument about his wardrobe, but then he focuses on the coffee in her hands, and ends up telling her to close the door. 

“Donnatella Moss, when did you start working for me?” he asks, and she should have known he’d make a big deal out of this, instead of just enjoying the coffee like a normal person would. But Josh is… Josh.

“Um, during the campaign,” she says.

“And how long have you been my assistant?” he asks, as if he doesn’t know the answer perfectly. 

She goes along with it anyway. “A year and a half.”

“And when was the last time you brought me a cup of coffee?” he asks, but then he answers himself. “It was never. You've never brought me a cup of coffee.”

She expects him to bring up the Agreement, but he doesn’t. “Well, if you're going to make a big deal out of it…” She leaves the “I’m not doing it again” unsaid. 

“Donna. If I get fired, I get fired,” he says, and she wants him to unsay it, because she’s not sure she can handle a world where Josh isn’t doing what he’s doing, and where she isn’t doing for Josh what she’s doing. It just wouldn’t be right.

Then Toby shows up, and in her way out he makes  a big deal about the whole coffee thing as well, and that’s it, she’s not doing it again. The White House can succumb to an earthquake and Josh can break his two legs, and she’ll still let him get his coffee himself. She knocks on wood at the thought though. No use baiting karma.

 

***  

 

The second time she brings him coffee, it doesn’t really count, because it’s her own cold coffee from the day before, but then he doesn’t deserve decent coffee at that point. He spits it out and is altogether too hung over to really register what’s happening or to realize that technically she broke the Agreement again.

 

***

 

“Take it back,” Josh says in greeting when she enters his apartment, her hands filled with the mail, four newspapers and two cups of coffee.

“Take what back?” she asks distractedly while trying to find an empty place on the table to put everything down.

“The coffee,” he says. “Take it back. You’ve only brought me coffee once, and it was out of pity because I messed up. So obviously something terrible happened, and I don’t want to know, so take it back.”

He’s gesticulating, and Donna watches for any signs of discomfort and sighs silently in relief when she doesn’t spot any. He’s almost completely recovered, but she doesn’t know what he gets up to when she isn’t around, and she knows Josh, he’ll get excited about something and overdo himself and forget that he’s supposed to be healing from a gunshot wound and a collapsed lung.

“Nothing bad happened, you’re just officially allowed to have coffee again, so I thought I’d bring you some,” she says while sorting the mail.

“Oh, okay,” he says, and takes the cup with his name on. He closes his eyes after taking a sip, and Donna smiles at his face.

“Oh,” he sighs. “Coffee, how I’ve missed you. It’s been too long. Evil doctors, keeping us apart.”

“Technically you were allowed to have it a week ago, but I figured you could miss the caffeine while you were still supposed to be resting,” she says. She’s always believed in full disclosure. Well, sometimes.

“Donnatella Moss, have you been micromanaging me?” Josh asks, clutching his cup of coffee to his chest.

“Josh, when haven’t I been micromanaging you?” she replies, finishing up sorting through the files.

“Fair enough. Thanks for the coffee.” Josh takes another sip.

“Hey, does this mean we can change the Assistant Agreement?” he asks suddenly. “I mean, you’ve brought me coffee twice now, obviously there’s room for change.”

“I’m afraid not, it doesn’t say I can’t bring you coffee voluntarily, so everything is still within our agreement.”

“Are you sure, because I’ve been wanting to amend 2.C. for years. 25 uses of your full name a year is just too few, Donna, I really need like, at least 50.”

“You should have thought of that before you signed it, Josh,” she grins at him.

“I didn’t read it!” he shouts back, throwing his hands up.

“And whose fault is that?” she retorts.

“Yeah okay, mine. You took advantage of me though, I was probably still distracted by the fact that you hired yourself.” He settles down however, and grabs a newspaper. Donna takes a moment to enjoy the quiet and drink her own coffee.

When she’s finished she puts on her coat, and grabs the pile of files he signed for her yesterday.

“Okay, I’m going to head back to the White House, you’ve got everything you need here, anything else can wait until you’re back at the office on Monday. I’ll see you then.” 

“Wait, you’re not coming back?” he asks.

“It’s the weekend Josh, I’m officially free, and you’re supposed to enjoy your last couple days of rest. Monday it’s back to normal,” she explains.

“See, I was right, your coffee is bad news. This is goodbye coffee, you’re-on-your-own coffee. You should take it back, I don’t accept it.” He tries to hand her his empty cup, scowling.

“You drank it, Josh, no returns. No refills either. You’ll be fine.” She leaves him pouting on the couch.

She’s at his front door when he shouts her name. 

“Donna!”

She turns around, ready to scold him, really she has gone beyond her duty here, but he’s smiling at her.

“Thanks for the coffee,” he says. “And you know, everything.”

“You’re welcome. See you Monday.”

“Yeah, okay. See you Monday.”

 

***

 

It’s 3 am and Josh is leaning over her and standing really close, and it’s too much, too soon. She needs some air, she needs some space. So she turns around and offers to get them some coffee.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

She doesn’t know what she’s feeling, she’s feeling a lot, that’s why she needs to get out of here for a minute, so she answers with the one thing she is sure of.

“I really want to win this thing.”

And it’s true she does, but it’s not the whole truth, and judging from the glimpse she catches from Josh’ face while she ducks around him, that’s not entirely what he wanted to hear either.

Which would be quite a revelation on any other day, because Josh is always about winning first, and his expression probably means something, but she can’t deal with it now.

“Coffee would be great,” he says from the bathroom. “Cream and -”

“Three sugars,” she completes his order without thinking about it, and she puts wondering how on earth she managed to memorize his coffee order when she never got him coffee on her long list of things to think about later.

She leaves Josh’s room kind of abruptly, but she can’t help it. It’s not that she’s really in the mood for coffee, although she only had two hours of sleep max last night and she could definitely use the caffeine. It’s just, he was so close, and the toothpaste move was definitely in preparation to kiss her. And it’s not that she doesn’t want to kiss him, she does, it’s just, he was so _there_ , and she needed a minute to figure out what exactly happened last night. Or rather, what it all means.

Is it a fling? Would she mind if it was just a campaign thing? Can they really afford to be distracted by all of this right now? What if they lose? Will Josh find a way to blame it on her? What if they _win_? Her mind is whirling with all of it, and she can’t focus.

She’s taken three steps outside when she realizes she forgot to put on her pantyhose. It’s cold and she’s regretting having left the hotel. But it’s like the cold forces her body to realize it’s awake, because suddenly she can feel the fact that she’s a bit sore, muscles she doesn’t normally use pulling, she can feel her skirt brushing against the light beard burn on her thighs, she can feel the scratches on her lower back. Normally, it’s a feeling she loves, the morning after sex when it’s been a while, but this time she’s very aware it was Josh who caused all this, and she can’t quite process it.

She’s waiting for their coffees when she remembers that she wanted this, she’s wanted Josh off and on for years. She knows him, they’re friends, and no matter what happens, she’s pretty sure that’ll stay the same. He came to Germany for her. He _stayed_ in Germany for her. Even when she was working on the Russell campaign, she still thought of him as a friend, as Josh; infuriating, frustrating but loyal Josh. It was awkward and painful, but they got through it.

Whatever it is between them, there’s something there, and this time she’s not going to pretend there isn’t. She’s going to enjoy it, and let it run its course.

Because she wants more.

 

She’s a bit nervous when she’s at his door, coffees in her hands, but it’s not the “what did I do?” panic-nerves anymore, it’s more of an excited thrill. So when it’s Ronna who opens the door she doesn’t hide her surprise and disappointment well. And that’s before she remembers her missing pantyhose.

 

***

 

When Rachel lets her in his office, she’s faced with a half dressed Josh, struggling with the buttons on his sleeve.

She puts the coffee and the folder on his desk, and goes to the rescue. She’s known him for nine years now, and she’s still amazed that he actually manages to dress himself on a daily basis.

“The Majority Whip is waiting in the Roosevelt Room, and of course I managed to spill coffee all over myself, and this shirt just won’t cooperate,” he says, waving at himself. She grabs his wrist, and buttons up his sleeve, before she moves to fix his collar and tie. He kisses her absentmindedly on the cheek. 

“Hi,” he says. “What brings you here?”

“I needed to discuss something on the First Lady’s agenda for tomorrow. I scheduled with Rachel, so we’ve still got 8 minutes.”

“Okay,” he says. “What do you need?”

She’s about to explain when she feels him freeze under her hands.

“Wait,” he says. “You brought coffee. Bad news coffee. What’s going on, what’s the First Lady going to do?”

She ignores the panic in his voice, and keeps tying his tie.

“Tomorrow, the First Lady is going to address the members of the IDA and publicly support them.”

“The International Dyslexia Association? Why? Donna, we just had to cut their funding from the Education Appropriation Bill, it’s going to look like she’s critiquing the President. You have to stop her, she has to wait until the Bill has passed.” His voice raises and raises, and she lets him rage while she finishes his tie. When she’s done, she pulls on it, to snap him out of it.

“If you yell like that, they can probably hear you in the Oval Office Josh, it’s right there,” she says.

“But-” 

She pulls on his tie again. “Calm down and listen to me. Peter’s best friend has dyslexia. She’s not going to budge on this, so we have to deal with it.”

“There’s no way we can get it back on the Bill,” he says.

“Not under Education, no. However, I’ve been looking into this for two days, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found a loophole.”

“A loophole?” Josh voices rises to unseen heights.

“So here’s what I suggest, as both your girlfriend and the First Lady Chief of Staff. You’re going to send Sam to beat the Majority Whip into shape, you’re going to drink that coffee, read that file, and then you’ll fix this, because that’s what you do.” She kisses him on the lips. “Wake me up when you get home to tell me how it went.”

She’s not out of his office yet when he starts yelling.

“Rachel, get me Sam here; stat!”

 

 

He wakes her up with a kiss and very cold feet.

“Hey,” he whispers. “You awake?”

“Sort of. How did it go?” She snuggles a little bit closer.

“You were right, Dyslexia technically falls both under Health and Education, so we could sneak it back in under the Health part of the Bill,” he says, and then rolls half on top of her.

“Your coffee is still evil, though. Brilliant but evil.” He kisses her lips, and then softly bites her throat. “I’m pretty sure I promised our firstborn to Reeves.”

She stretches her arms, trying to become more awake, but his hand drawing circles on her side and stomach keeps her doozy.

“Our firstborn? Are we having kids?” she asks. Josh freezes.

“Uhm. Maybe? I don’t know. It was more a manner of speaking.” He hesitates for a bit. “Are we? Do you want them? We can talk about it if you want.”

She laughs, and pulls his head close for a kiss.

“I was kidding, we don’t have to talk about it now. I’m half asleep and you were doing things. Nice things. With your hands.”

“You are evil, like your coffee.”

“Evil but brilliant, so you said.”

“Maybe I should bring you coffee one day, and deliver pending doom on your desk,” he says, hand moving towards her hip. He kisses her shoulder. “In gratitude of course.”

She slides her hand through his hair, caressing his neck and then his shoulder.

“Or you know, you could show your gratitude differently.”

He chuckles and kisses her collarbone.

“I can do that too,” he says, before he licks slowly from between her breasts all the way down.

She should definitely bring him coffee more often.

 

***

 

Josh is still snoring loudly when Donna returns to their bedroom. He’s on his stomach, only half under the covers, in his boxers and the t-shirt he wore last night. She puts the coffee and bagels down on the bedside table and plops down on the bed. When that doesn’t wake him, she pokes him in the side.

“Joshua, rise and shiiiine,” she sings when all he does is groan and pull a pillow over his head.

She pokes him some more and slaps him on the ass.

“Leave me alone,” he grouches. “Come sleep more.”

While the offer is tempting, Josh himself at the moment isn’t really, since he still smells of yesterday’s drinks. So she resists his offer and slaps his ass again instead. It’s still a nice ass, brewery smell or not.

“I brought coffee and bagels. Breakfast in bed Josh, you should enjoy it while the offer stands,” she says.

Josh hums, and eventually rolls over and slouches against the headboard. He’s blinking against the light, and he looks completely disheveled, but somehow attractive anyway. She guesses that’s what love does to people, makes them attractive even when they’re at their worst.

He’s making grabby-hands, so she gives him his coffee and a bagel, and installs herself next to him. He’s pretty non-communicative while they eat their bagels, and Josh isn’t this quiet all that often. She has no idea if this is just regular, really hung over Josh, or if there’s something more pressing on his mind.

“You know, when preparing for yesterday evening, I should’ve remembered that both you and Mrs. Santos are Irish,” he finally says.

“Half Irish,” she automatically corrects him. 

He just grunts. “Donna, it’s St. Patricks Day, I’m pretty sure even your Italian mother would agree with me that even if you were only one tenth Irish, you’d still be more Irish than me, and thus a thousand times more qualified to handle any and all drinks that come with this unhealthiest of days,” he says and then he groans and drops his head against her shoulder, handing her his empty mug. “I really shouldn’t talk, my head has never hurt this much. Ever.”

Donna laughs, and pets him on the arm.

“You always were a lightweight, you can’t handle your drinks at all, can’t you?”

“Yes, I admit it. I’m a lightweight, now can we not move and not talk and just be quiet like this?” he mumbles into her neck, breath soft and ticklish against her skin.

There’s nowhere they need to be today, so Donna grabs the covers and tucks them both in.

 

A couple of hours later, Josh comes and finds her on the couch, his hair still damp from the shower, looking a little better and a lot cleaner.

“Hey,” he says, kissing her with minty fresh breath before he settles down on the couch, head on her lap.

“How do you feel? Still hung over?” she asks, carding her fingers through his hair.

“I took some Advil, but it’s not really helping,” he says. “I feel better than earlier though.”

He absentmindedly strokes her arm.

“You brought me coffee,” he says.

“I figured you’d need it.”

“I did, but that’s not the point. I wasn’t awake enough to appreciate it. Not the coffee, I appreciated that, but that you brought it. You brought breakfast in bed, and I wasn’t romantic about it. And I want you to know I appreciate it, because you never brought me coffee before all this,” Josh waves his hands between them in explanation. “So I know you don’t like to, but I really need you to know that I really appreciate it that you did. It was really nice. Like-”

She has to interrupt him there, before he goes on one of his flustered circle talks again.

“Are you talking about the Assistant’s Agreement? Because I haven’t been your Assistant for a while now Josh.”

“Yeah I know, almost two years now,” he says, and of course he tracks the time, she should have known.

“It’s not that, I know you felt like bringing coffee wasn’t one of your duties, and I totally understood. It never bothered me. Just, because you never did, it always felt special when you did. And now that things are different between us, now that we’re together, it still does. Feel special. And I just wanted you to know I liked it. Even if I didn’t say so this morning. So thanks for the coffee.” He kisses her hand, and closes his eyes.

“You’re welcome,” she says, and she wants to say more, but Josh looks like all the talking has taken up the little energy he had.

“I should bring you coffee one day,” he mumbles.

“You should,” she replies, carding her fingers through his hair again.

“When I’m less hung over,” he adds, and that makes her laugh.

 

***

 

Donna is trying to figure out how to fit three meetings with various women’s groups into next week already tight schedule while working around when the kids will be at home and awake, and so far she’s not having any luck. So when Josh enters her office, he’s both a sight for sore eyes - she could use a hug today - but also a bit of a nuisance, because it’ll probably mean something else will need to be scheduled. But then she notices his smirk and the coffee in his hands, and the only thing she can think is “No no no no no no, please don’t be a disaster I have to deal with today”.

Josh just puts the coffee on her desk and smiles, infuriating man that he is.

“Hey,” he says. “I brought you coffee.”

“I can see that. Throw it at me, what’s the bad news? No need to sugar coat it, I can handle it.”

He just smiles, hands in his pockets. “It’s our anniversary, so I thought I’d bring you coffee, to celebrate.”

And it’s not, it’s not Election Day, but it is, because it’s April, and it’s their _old_ anniversary, the one he used to give her flowers for. And they haven’t done that one for a couple of years now, so she had forgotten.

“I’m pretty sure our anniversary is in November? There was a big event going on at the time, you’d think you’d remember,” she says.

“Yeah, I know, we should definitely celebrate that one too, but to me, this is still our anniversary. I never stopped being glad you came back, Donna. Even when you quit and left me again later. And came back again, we should celebrate that one too. It’s just, we would never be here,” he waves his hands between them and at her office, “we would never be here, be together, if you hadn’t come back that first time. I know it’s not the day we met, or the day we first kissed, or the day we first had sex, or even the day I pulled my head out of my ass and admitted to myself I loved you, which was the day you quit the second time, or the day I pulled myself together and decided to go to Hawai'i  with you. Those are all moments we could celebrate, and we should, but for me this will always be our anniversary. Because you came back.”

He’s silent for a second, but before she can say anything to all of that, he rubs his hand through his hair and, sounding frustrated, loudly says, “Just drink the coffee, Donna!”

She laughs and leans across her desk, pulling his head in to kiss him on the lips.

“That was a lot of words, Mr. Lyman,” she says.

“Well, yeah. But I love you,” he answers.

“I love you too,” she says. “Thanks for the coffee.” And she kisses him again.

**Author's Note:**

> It's actually my headcanon that Josh realized/admitted to himself he loved Donna on the day she quit (it's the way he whispered 'She quit' to himself - always breaks my heart). It is also totally my headcanon he makes that their Anniversary (I think Election Day would always be tainted by the memory of Leo's Death, + winning the Election, just too much happened that day.
> 
> Unfortunately, that didn't work out here timeline wise, because she quit in December, and they were smack in the middle of transition then. So I went for the original Anniversary here, which is equally romantic I think.
> 
> Ah Josh, how I adore your unwilling sentimentality.
> 
> Feel free to come and talk Josh and Donna or The West Wing at me on my [tumblr.](http://janoda.tumblr.com) I have a lot of emotions about these two and this show, and almost no one to share them with.


End file.
